लायन हार्ट

When i saw this film i was just 15 and it touched me how Leon wanted to fight for his brothers wife and kid.The films fight scenes are well staged and when i watched the film again recently i was surprised by how much i enjoyed it.Thats the thing,its a really enjoyable film,you can harp on all day about how Van Damme isn't the worlds best actor,how the sound mix is wobbly and the film looks as though it has been churned out for TV but its a good story well executed and that is the long and short of it.Van Damme has gone on to make many a film in a similar vein but i felt it was on this production that he came off best.The trainer played by Harrison Page helps lift the film too. 8/10

I know this movie as "A.W.O.L Absent Without Leave" but I have also seen it called Wrong Bet and Lionheart. This was one of the first movies I saw in 1990 knowing who Jean Claude Van Damme was, after previously seeing "Blood Sport" and "Kickboxer". Along with those two this helped set him on the road to stardom. Watching it today, I still think it is one of his best performances and best movies in general. Sure it's cheaply made and some of the acting is a bit dodgy but it's a lot of fun.

Plot In A Paragraph: Leon Gaultier is a deserter from the Foreign Legion arriving in New York . He finds his brother at death's door in L.A and his sister-in-law without the money needed to pay for medical care for her husband and to maintain her child. To earn the money needed, Gaultier decides to take part in some very dangerous under ground fights.

Whilst Van Damme is the star, Harrison Page steals the show as his friend/manager Joshua, I think he is fantastic. Having previously starred opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sly Stallone, Brian Thompson stars opposite the new action star in the block (at the time) Deborah Rennard does a fine job as Cynthia.

Well, I wasn't expecting such a dramatic movie, but this one really

made me cry, especially at the ending scene. The movie begins in

Djibouti, where a legionary camp is placed. The casting is wisely done.

Especially the guys which were following Lion in US. Deborah Rennard is

very cool. I think she deserved better in Hollywood. Harrison Page

perfectly fits in his role. And Van Damme... Maybe he should have made

more drama movies, he proved he is good at it. You should have this on, if you are a fan of Van Damme, I think it is his best movie, even better than Bloodsport. Well we're expecting more drama movies from Van Damme.

This is one of the few films by Van Damme that stand out in my mind when I think of his 'career highlights'. All of his films are formulaic actioners, but Lionheart is one of his better films. His character is more layered here, which makes this more of a drama than most of his others. We as the audience can feel for his character and, as a result, root for him as he tries to evade his past and help what family he has left. A nice little action film, with Van Damme forced to act a little here. For his capabilities, he is convincing as Lyon. Harrison Page is very good in the film as the ex-street fighter turned confidant, and almost steals the show. A highlight of Van Damme's career.

*** out of **** stars.

(62%) Without doubt one of my favourite early(ish) Van Damme movies that is so much more like Street fighter the video game than the actual Street fighter film. This is nuts and bolts late 80's early 90's action B-movie fun right from the very beginning. Van Damme is on physical top form with some impressive moves from the many fights featured, the story is good simple action movie stuff, and even though this is clearly a lowish budgeted film it's always watchable and entertaining. Performance wise this isn't anything of course worth speaking of, but Harrison Page is good fun as the sleazy manager, while Deborah Rennard gets plenty of screen time wearing some of the periods' more curious fashions. Overall any true of Mr Damme should certainly check this out.